


Trouble at Chase Space.

by CristinaBlackthornKingson



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Adoption, Best Friends, Big Sisters, Blindness, Brother Feels, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brotherhood, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Disability, Disabled Character, Disabled Character of Color, Dyslexia, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Grandmothers, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Hospitals, Learning Disabilities, Little Sisters, M/M, Medical Conditions, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Motherhood, Multiple Sclerosis, Other, Physical Disability, Pregnancy, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love, Siblings, Sister-Sister Relationship, Sisters, Step-Brothers, Step-parents, Step-siblings, Team as Family, Teen Angst, Teen Pregnancy, Teenage Drama, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:42:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24273754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CristinaBlackthornKingson/pseuds/CristinaBlackthornKingson
Summary: It has been two years since The Chase Space was officially opened, and for two years everything has gone smoothly, nothing has crept up or occurred that Magnus, Alex or any of their friends and family couldn't cope with, until one of the residents, a 16 year old girl, finds out she's pregnant, which in turn leads to her finding out that she's not as ordinary as she thought, she is in fact a Norse Demi-god, with a very, very rare Godly parent.
Relationships: Alderman & Hearthstone (Magnus Chase), Alex Fierro & Mallory Keen, Alex Fierro & Original Character(s), Annabeth Chase & Magnus Chase, Blitzen & Hearthstone, Blitzen & Magnus Chase, Blitzen/Hearthstone, Estelle Blofis & Percy Jackson, Estelle Blofis & Sally Jackson, Halfborn Gunderson/Mallory Keen, Loki/Sigyn, Magnus Chase & Alex Fierro, Magnus Chase & Alex Fierro & Halfborn Gunderson & Thomas Jefferson Jr. & Mallory Keen, Magnus Chase & Halfborn Gunderson, Magnus Chase & Hearthstone, Magnus Chase & Mallory Keen, Magnus Chase & Original Character(s), Magnus Chase & Thomas Jefferson Jr., Magnus Chase/Alex Fierro, Paul Blofis & Sally Jackson, Paul Blofis/Sally Jackson, Percy Jackson & Sally Jackson, Samirah al-Abbas & Alex Fierro, Samirah al-Abbas & Blitzen, Samirah al-Abbas & Loki, Samirah al-Abbas & Magnus Chase, Samirah al-Abbas/Amir Fadlan
Comments: 7
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *TRIGGER WARNING*  
> Trigger Warning for talk of discrimination towards disabled people, not accepting a child because they are disabled. Also trigger warning for racism, sexism, biphobia, as well as relapse of Multiple Sclerosis, suicidal thoughts and ideations and mental health issues, depression specifically.

It is a cool October day when Magnus, Alex, Sam, Hearth and Blitz are faced with a problem at Chase Space, that they never saw coming.

It has been 2 years now since The Chase Space has opened, and it has become the safe haven for a lot of young homeless people, that Magnus always wanted it to be. They’ve had kids of all ages come ago, and kids of all ages stay, though right now the residents are all between 6 and 21. There’s no age limit on who can stay at The Chase Space, even though it’s really meant to be for youths, no one is going to turn away someone looking for a hot meal and a bed.

Most of the kids are still in school or college, or some of the older ones work. However some of them don’t go to school or college, there is a handful of the younger kids and the teens who for a plethora of reasons would not thrive at a public school, so Magnus, Alex, Sam, Hearth and Blitz do their best to home school them, often calling in Annabeth or Percy to help, or Percy’s stepdad Paul Blofis, he comes three times a week to help tutor the home schooled kids, giving up his free periods at his main job at the local high school. 

The rules aren’t strict at Chase Space, there’s no strict curfew but they do ask that the ones of legal drinking age avoid coming home drunk as they may upset and frighten the younger ones. The residents are welcome to come and go as they please, though if a regular is going to be staying out for the night, a phone call or a heads up is appreciated, so no one panics thinking they’ve gone missing. 

Everything had gone smoothly with nothing that one of the 5 main people running the place, couldn’t handle. However that all changes on morning when Blitzen walks past one of the bathrooms on the second floor, and hears someone retching. Blitz and Hearth are like fathers to these kids, and are extremely protective of them, so when Blitz hears the vomiting, his fatherly instinct makes him stop and knock at the door.

“Everything okay in there?” He asks. No answer, just more retching. Blitz slowly eases the door open, and slips inside. When he steps in, he sees right away that the person hunched over the toilet, puking their guts out, is one of the residents. A 16 year old girl name Ariadne Bhasin. She had come from a very high up well to do family, but she always had issues at home, she was the first born and turned out not to be the perfect child her parents had expected. For one thing, she was a girl and not a boy, which did not please her father. Secondly, she was born and later diagnosed with a number of disabilities. 

At birth it was discovered she was blind in one eye, then at 4 she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, then later at 10 she was also diagnosed with dyslexia and dyscalculia. For these reasons she was not accepted by her family and treated like a freak. Then at 14 she came out as bisexual, which was when her parents had enough and turned her out. Fortunately she quickly found Chase Space and has a new family here, who love her and accept her. She’s one of the home-school students and is extremely bright and intelligent with plenty of potential. She has aims to graduate high-school, then go on to study photography in college and open her own studio, her parents always dismissed these hopes and dreams of hers, but everyone here at Chase Space is fully supportive and knows she can and will do it.

“Aw kid, you okay?” Blitz gently asks, grabbing a wet flannel cloth and pressing it to Ariadne’s forehead, when she lifts her head and slumps back against the toilet. “Did you eat something bad or is it a bug or something?” He adds. Ariadne shrugs. 

“Dunno, I’ve been up since 5 being sick on and off, mostly on though. I tried to drink water and eat some crackers but they just came right back up.” Ariadne weakly says in a tired tone, taking the wet cloth from Blitz and wiping her mouth with it. 

Blitz is about to offer to make an appointment with Ariadne’s doctor, when he spots something sitting in the windowsill next to the toilet, that causes his heart to sink into his stomach. He reaches up and picks up the little plastic white stick with a clear window in the middle with two pink lines. He’s seen enough TV shows and movies to know what it is, a pregnancy test, a positive one. 

“Oh kid, is this yours?” He quietly asks, turning it around so Ariadne can see. She flushes and slowly nods her head. Well, that clears up the mystery of why she’s so sick. 

“I’m sorry.” Ariadne says in a shaky and fearful tone, which breaks Blitzen’s heart into a million pieces. He never wants any of the kids here to feel afraid of him or any of the others, this is a safe space for everyone, no matter what. 

“Ari don’t be sorry, come here.” Blitz pulls her in for brief hug. 

“Am I going to have to leave?” Ariadne asks in a tight tone, wiping at her tears. She has no idea where she will go if she has to leave, she won’t be welcome back home and a lot of the other shelters aren’t safe for her, she’s a young, queer, disabled brown kid, and now she’s pregnant, hardly anywhere is safe for her, and no foster family would want her, nor would any adoptive parents, they just want white able-bodied newborn baby girls. 

“No, absolutely not. Look kid I won’t lie, Hearth, Magnus, Alex, Sam and I, we have no clue about babies, non at all. We’ll be just as new to this as you are, but we love you Ari and we will all support you no matter what choice you make and I promise you the choice is fully yours and no one is going to judge you for it.” Blitz gently says, reaching out and squeezing her hand. 

“I-I want to keep the baby, I’ve always wanted kids. I know I’m really young but I know I can be a good mom and I still go to college and stuff with a baby.” Ariadne says, placing her hand over her stomach. 

“Course you can, you’ve got all of us here to help you.” Blitz assures her. 

“I’m going to have to come off my MS meds until the baby is born.” Ariadne says, nervously chewing on her nail. Her parents had refused to get her treatment for MS, they were the type of people who did not believe in disability and simply thought their daughter was weak and lazy. When she came to Chase Space and told them about her MS, Alex found an amazing doctor for Ariadne who got her on the right medication to halt the progression of the disease. When Ariadne came to Chase Space, she had very bad co-ordination, was very weak and extremely fatigued, but thankfully after a few weeks of treatment all of these things improved and Ariadne has had very little trouble with her MS over the last two years. 

“Yeah, and that’s probably going to be tough, but we’re all going to be here to support you no matter what. You’re home-schooled so you don’t have to worry about going to school everyday, we can work when you feel up to it and able, you might fall behind but we can get you back up to speed when the baby is born and you get back on your meds. The main thing Ari, is that you’re not in this alone.” 

“Thanks Blitz, that... that really means a lot to me.” Ariadne weakly says, Blitz smiles and squeezes her hand again. 

“No problem kid, that’s what I’m here for, me and Hearth and Magnus and Alex and Sam, we’re all here to love and support every one of you kids here. Why don’t you go try and catch some more sleep, since you’ve been up all night? We’ll keep some breakfast for you and if you feel up to it you can have it later, if not it won’t go to waste here. You can join us for school at 11 if you want, but you don’t have to.” Blitz suggests. 

“Okay, you want tell anyone else will you? About the baby? I want to tell them myself.” Ariadne quietly asks. 

“Course I won’t kid, it’s not my place to tell anyone, I’ll be there to support you when you’re ready to tell the others but until you are I promise your secret is safe with me. Now, back to bed, you’re going to need all the rest you can get over the next few months.” 

While Ariadne heads back into her room, Blitz makes his way downstairs into the dinning room where breakfast is just finishing up, and the kids who go to public school are getting ready to leave, though there’s a few stragglers among the youngest kids, needing help with their shoelaces and such. Samirah is tying the shoes of a little 6 year old boy called Matthew, while Alex is fussing over little 8 year old Emma, concentrating on platting her thick blonde hair.

“Stay still Emma, I can’t put your hair in braids if you don’t sit still.” Alex calmly says,as the little girl wriggles about in her seat. “Magnus we’re never having kids!” He adds, while Magnus helps 10 year old Timothy into his coat. 

“Fine by me.” Magnus replies. It’s not like they can have kids anyway, being Einherjar and all. 

As Blitz watches all of the commotion and thinks about Ariadne and her pregnancy, he feels a tap on his shoulder and turns to see Hearth standing behind him looking concerned. 

_You okay? Look worried._ Hearth signs with a frown tugging at his mouth. 

“I’m fine pal, don’t worry about me, just thinking about work as usual.” Blitz says with a smile. Hearth grins and roles his eyes. 

_You are always thinking about work, should take a break._ He signs.

“No way! I love my job, I never want to take a break! Besides I gotta make some new clothes for little Josie, she’s shooting up like a weed.” Blitz grins, referring to the youngest resident of The Chase Space, little Josie Woods, who came here with her older brother Thomas. Thomas had been turned out of his home for being trans, but he refused to leave his sister there since their parents were abusive. Josie thrives here at The Chase Space and seems to grow a foot a day, and already has a big interest in fashion, she’s Blitz’s little shadow and he couldn’t be more happy to have her around. 

“Hey where’s Ariadne? I haven’t seen her this morning?” Magnus asks, looking around for the familiar flash of dark red hair. 

“She’s not feeling well today, I found her puking her guts up in the bathroom this morning, poor kid had been up since 5 being sick.” Blitz says in a sympathetic tone. 

“Shit, is she okay? Is her MS flaring up?” Alex asks in a concerned tone, setting his hairbrush down and sending Emma off to find her school bag. 

“She’s alright now, it could be a flare up or it could be nothing, one of those things. She said she’ll wait and see how she feels later today, before going to the doctor.” Blitz tells them. 

“Should I bring some breakfast up to her?” Magnus asks in a concerned tone. One of the first signs of Ariadne’s MS flaring up is vomiting and loss of apetite.

“Nah let her sleep, she can’t keep anything down right now anyway, best thing for her is rest.” Blitz says. 

A few hours later, just as Alex has finished up a lesson on sexuality and gender, with the kids who are home-schooled, Ariadne pads into the home-schooling room, still wearing her pajamas and teal blue bath robe. 

“Hey, Ari, how are you feeling?” Alex asks, as the other kids leave the room. 

“Nauseous as hell, I feel like my stomach is trying to climb up my throat, it’s awful.” She says in a tired tone, collapsing into a chair at the table where the kids sit during school time. 

“Do you think it’s your MS flaring up?” Alex asks in a concerned tone. Ariadne bites her lip and shakes her head. 

“No that’s not it. I um, I kind of know why I’m so sick, can we find Magnus, Sam, Blitz and Hearth and then I can tell you guys altogether?” Ariadne asks. 

“Sure.” Alex says with a shrug, not understanding why Ariadne wants to tell them altogether, but never being one to judge. Maybe her meds aren’t working anymore and she wants multiple opinions on what to do next.

10 minutes later Sam, Blitz, Hearth, Magnus, Alex and Ariadne are gathered around the kitchen table, all but Blitz confused as to what’s going on. 

“Okay so I know you all think I’m sick because my MS is flaring up again or that my meds have stopped working, but that’s not it. I... I’m pregnant.” Ariadne quietly says, her hand resting on her stomach protectively. 

“Oh Ari, when did you find out?” Alex gently asks. 

“This morning, I had my suspicions before then but I took a test this morning and it was positive.” Ariadne tells him.

“Do you know what you want to do?” Magnus asks. 

“Yeah, I want to keep the baby. I know it won’t be easy but I really want this baby and know I can be a good parent, give the baby a better childhood than I had. You know the woman I grew up calling mom was actually my step-mom, my birth mom was a woman my dad had an affair with, he had no idea she was pregnant until she showed up with me and insisted she couldn’t raise me. I know nothing about my birth mom and I have no idea why she didn’t keep me, I don’t want that for my child. Even if the adoption was open there would still be trauma for the baby, I know their best chance is with me.” Ariadne softly says, her hand laid across her stomach.

“Ari, all of us here at Chase Space support you no matter what choice you make, if you want to keep the baby then we’re here to support you and help you.” Samirah gently says, reaching across the table to squeeze Ariadne’s hand reassuringly.

Hearth lightly taps Ariadne on the arm to get her attention, and when she turns to face him, he signs

_Don’t want to be rude, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but who is the father?_ Ariadne blushes and ducks her head for a moment, before looking back up at Hearth and the others.

“Nobody you know, just someone I hooked up with a few times. We weren’t dating or anything. When I told him I might be pregnant he said he wanted nothing to do with it or me if I was pregnant. I text him a while ago to tell him I definitely am pregnant, but he didn’t reply, blocked my number and blocked me on all social media so he’s definitely not going to be involved.”

“Aw you poor kid, do you want me or Hearth or someone to talk to him? He had no right to treat you like that.” Blitz asks, trying to keep the anger out of his tone. How could anybody treat sweet and lovely Ariadne in such a way? If the father didn’t want to be involved with the baby that was his choice, just as it would be Ariadne’s choice to have an abortion or place the baby for adoption, but to block her and ignore her? That’s just cruel.

“No it’s fine, I really don’t care all that much, we were never anything serious.” Ariadne replies with a shrug.

“Well then, I’m no expert when it comes to pregnancy but I think the best thing to do next is for you to see your doctor and talk about coming off your MS meds and make a plan of action for the next few months.” Alex says.

“Will you come with me Alex?” Ariadne hopefully asks. Alex has always been the one to go with Ariadne to hospital and doctor appointments and help her the most when she has an MS flare up, it only feels right that Alex should be there this time too.

“Of course,if that’s what you want.”

A few days later Amir drives Ariadne and Alex to her doctor’s appointment, they could walk but Ariadne had been up all night again, vomiting and is extremely tired and weak and unfit to walk.

Thankfully MS won’t affect the pregnancy in any significant way, though Ariadne may need to rely more on mobility aids such as canes and a wheelchair, especially later in the pregnancy. Though she will have to come off her medication, she can still do things and take other medications that are safe for pregnancy, to try and keep the progression of the disease at bay.

When they know the plan of action for helping Ari get through the pregnancy while living with MS, Alex brings up the fact that Ariadne has been severely ill, vomiting practically all day and night for the last few days, being unable to keep anything down, even water. The doctor almost immediately diagnoses her with hyperemesis gravidarum, severe morning sickness. There are a few things they can try, the doctor is eager for her to try more homeopathic remedies first, before resorting to more medicine.  
Two days later and Ariadne only feels worse, even the smell of food is triggering her HG now and she has become severely dehydrated.

“Is she alright?” Magnus asks Alex in a tone of concern, when she comes back downstairs after trying to help Ariadne keep something done, even just some water.

Alex shakes her head.

“No, it’s just getting worse for her, a few days ago she could keep plain foods and water down for a few hours but now it all just comes right back up, she’s exhausted but can’t get any sleep because she’s always being sick and I’m almost certain she’s loosing weight instead of gaining it.” Alex says in a concerned tone, leaning into Magnus for an embrace. All of them are so worried about Ariadne and have no idea what they can do for her.

“That doctor should have started her on medication right away, he was a real schmuck!” Blitz exclaims in a tone tinged with anger. He knew herbs and bed rest weren’t going to do anything for Ari, it’s not like she was just a little bit sick, it was severe and now she’s just getting worse.

_Should take her to the hospital, she can get medicine and an IV there_. Hearth signs.

“Yeah I think you’re right Hearth, hospital is the best place for her right now, she needs treatment.” Magnus says, nodding in agreement with his friend.

“Someone has to go with her and a few of us have to stay here, who should do what?” Alex asks.

“Hearth and I will go with Ariadne, she’s practically our kid. Sam maybe you could come too for any uh, you know, womanly things?” Blitz asks, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck and trying not to flush.

“Yeah of course I’ll come, I’ll ask Amir to drive us and then ask him to come back here and help you two out, does that work?” Sam asks, turning to look at Alex and Magnus.

“Yeah we mostly just need help with the little kids.” Magnus says.

“3 against 10, I think we can take them.” Alex laughs.

Half an hour later Ariadne has been admitted to the hospital and given a PICC line and an IV. Through the PICC line Ariadne is receiving a medication called promethazine which is commonly used to treat HG. It is one of a few medications that can be used, as well as steroids. Ariadne is feeling no different, and is so nauseous she can’t sleep. Hearth and Blitz are sitting with her, while Sam stepped out to call Magnus, Alex and Amir and keep them updated. 

Over the next few weeks nothing seems to work on Airadne’s HG. A few days after being admitted to the hospital she had a G-tube fitted and her medication was changed, but still it did not help. She continues to be violently ill each day, even with no food in her stomach. When the 2 week mark hits and they’ve tried most of the medicines that are usually prescribed to HG patients, the doctors decide that the best thing to try next is a steroid called Corticosteroids. It feels like a last hope for Ariadne, who is struggling severely with being so ill.

As she lays on her side in her hospital bed, two tubes in her arm and another in her nose, Ariadne curls a hand around her very slightly swollen belly, grips onto the handle of the bed and lets the tears flow. As she lays there crying, Ariadne finds herself praying, something she has not done since she was a young child and her parents forced her to attend Mass. At 13 Ariadne realized she did not believe in God or anything really, but now she finds herself pleading with God. 

Please. She thinks. _Please God either let this work or let me die, I can’t continue on like this for 7 more months, I’m not strong enough. Please, I’ll do anything but I’m struggling._

A few seconds later Ariadne feels a light tap on her back, and rolls over expecting to see her nurse and doctor, but instead coming face to face with a very concerned looking Hearthstone. 

“Hearth, I-I thought you weren’t coming till this evening.” Ariadne says, wiping at her tears and pushing herself into a sitting position. 

_Was worried about you, had to come see if you are okay. Are you okay?_ He signs.

“I...” Ariadne trails off, not sure if she should tell Hearthstone exactly how she’s feeling and what’s going through her mind. Would he think she’s crazy and unfit to be a mother? Call Social Services on her? 

_Please tell me the truth, want to help you, but I can’t if you don’t talk to me._ Hearth signs. Ariadne swallows before beginning to talk. 

“I.... I’m really struggling. I feel sick every minute of the day and I’m vomiting every other minute of the day, I can’t eat or drink anything, I can’t stand the smell of anything at all really. I.... I’m struggling to keep going and I... I’m... I’m afraid of not getting better and living and I... I’m also afraid of not dying.” At these last words, Ariadne breaks down in sobs and Hearth immediately wraps her in a tight, warm hug. She had struggled with depression before, but she has never been suicidal, now she is. 

Hearth pulls back from the hug and gently wipes away Ariadne’s tears. 

_Can’t imagine what you are going through. You are very strong to have gotten this far._ He signs.

“I’m not strong.” Ariadne quietly says. 

_Yes you are, I couldn’t do it if I was you. You are very strong and very, very brave. You will get better, and you do not have to struggle alone. You can talk to me and the others, and you can go to therapy_. Hearth signs. Ariadne sniffs and wipes at the fresh tears that have started to fall. 

“I don’t have the money for therapy.” She quietly says. 

_We will pay for it, me and Blitz, I have some money that I inherited from my father._ Hearth tells her. When Mr. Alderman died he left behind a great sum of money, and as his only surviving family member, said money went to Hearth. He of course did not want his father’s money, but realized he could use it for good. He donated a majority of it to several charities, but he still has quiet a bit left over but uses that for food orders for The Chase Space, to buy the kids at Chase Space anything they need and pay for things like therapy, doctor’s visits, etc. He has enough to send Ariadne to the best therapist Boston has to offer, and he will still have plenty left over to use to help others. 

Ariadne is about to thank Hearth, when she spots her nurse approaching, needle in hand. 

_Nurse is coming to give me stereiod shot._ Ariadne quickly signs to Hearth, so the nurse doesn’t hear their private conversation. _Scared, don’t like needles. Will you stay with me?_ Hearth smiles and nods, slipping his hand into Ariadne’s and squeezing it reassuringly. 

“Hello again Ariadne, I’m afraid I come bearing an injection for you, but hopefully it will finally be the one to do the trick, after all you’ve been through.” The nurse kindly says. 

“Is it okay if Hearth stays with me?” Ariadne asks. 

“Oh are you Ariadne’s father?” The nurse asks Hearth, only looking at him for the first few seconds of the sentence, before starting to set up for Ariadne’s injection. 

“Hearth’s deaf, you have to look at him when you talk if you don’t speak ASL, and no he’s not my dad, just a friend. Is it okay if he stays?” Ariadne informs her. 

“Yes of course, it’s always good to have support. I’m going to need you on your side, I’m afraid this is going into a muscle in the back of your leg.” The nurse says. 

2 minutes later Ariadne is lying on her side, her eyes squeezed shut and one of her hands gripping tightly onto Hearth’s, waiting for the injection. Hearth smooths her hair back and rubs reassuring and comforting circles on her back, letting her grip his hand as tightly as she likes. 

The injection itself only takes a few seconds, but it’s still very unpleasant. 

“There all done now, hopefully that should start to work for you soon. In the meantime try and rest as much as you can.” The nurse says, quickly cleaning up before hurrying off. 

Ariadne slowly releases her grip on Hearth’s hand and opens her eyes again. Hearth smiles at her kindly and signs

_You are going to be okay, promise._ And somehow Ariadne knows this is no false promise, sooner or later she _is_ going to get better and be okay.

Over the next few days as the steroids start to work, Ariadne only begins to feel more and more depressed, a complete shell of her former self. The nausea and sickness are still there, though maybe not quiet as intense. There are many side-effects of the many medications, the most prevalent being the side-effects of the steroids, mainly the fluid retention. After only 3 days on the steroids Ariadne’s face becomes so swollen she hardly recognizes herself. Due to her no longer being on her MS medication her leg and arm muscles have become weak and stiff, causing her a great deal of pain and meaning she can hardly get out of bed at all anymore, always needing the assistance of a nurse and a wheelchair just to cross two feet to the bathroom. 

Magnus, Alex, Sam, Hearth, and Blitz take it in turns to visit her as do the others from Floor 19, who also know her form when they take trips to Midgard to help out at Chase Space. 

Magnus tells her stories about Norse Mythology (framing them as totally fictional of course, seeing as she knows nothing of the nine worlds or that the old Norse myths are true) seeing as Ariadne is interested in Mythology, Alex tries to cheer her up by painting her nails and doing her hair for her.

Sam prays for her every single day and tries to involve her in her wedding planning, to distract her. Hearth brings her books and her laptop to keep her entertained, Blitz tries to distract her with talk of his latest designs and how in a few years she’s going to be his go to photographer for fashion shoots, and how he and Hearth will be her go to babysitters. 

Mallory is always reminding her just how strong and tough she is and that she can get through this, Gunderson tries to make her smile or laugh with embarrassing stories about the others, and TJ tries to encourage her to play video games with him (Hearth had used his father’s money to pay for a private room for Ariadne, so TJ was able to bring in game consoles and hook them up to the TV in her room.)

On day 6 of the stereiod shots, Ariadne wakes up and for the first time in almost 3 months, she feels hungry and thirsty. 

“How are you feeling this morning pet?” Ariadne hears Mallory’s voice at her side, and turns around to see her sitting in a chair by Ari’s bed, her wild red hair scrapped back into a ponytail and a look of concern on her face. 

“I.... I’m hungry, and thirsty.” Ariadne says in a disbelieving tone. 

“Really? Well, what do you want to drink or eat?” Mallory asks. Previously Ariadne’s doctor had told her that if she got the urge to eat or drink, she should do so. 

“I really want a Diet Coke and soup, any soup.” Ariadne says, knowing that soup is one of the foods she can have with the G-tube still in place. 

“Okay, I’ll go get you a Diet Coke and some soup.”

Half an hour later Ariadne has eaten a bowl of soup and drank her Diet Coke, and for the first time in weeks is managing to keep something down. 

Over the next few days she slowly drinks some more things, though mainly sticks to soup for food, meaning she still needs the G-tube. 

Soon after that, the doctors agree that home is the best place for Ariadne, though she will keep the PICC line and G-Tube for another while. 

Hearth and Blitz are the ones who show up to take Ariadne home, and Amir is the one to drive them home (Being the only one among the group who can drive.) 

Once home, Magnus, Alex and Sam greet her at the door and help her up to bed where she is to spend the next few weeks. 

Thankfully the next few weeks pass by pretty smoothly, the all-day nausea sticks around but Ariadne is able to eat and drink again, meaning she is soon able to have the G-tube and PICC line removed, though she still struggles with fatigue and muscle weakness and stiffness due to her being unable to take her MS meds.

Three weeks after coming home from the hospital, Ariadne is sitting on the sofa in the living room, with Alex, Sam and Magnus, working on wedding planning for Sam and Amir’s upcoming wedding, and talking about how grateful she is to be over the worst of her HG. 

“The thing is.” Ariadne says, pushing her hair out of her face. “I don’t understand why I was so sick, why I had HG, it wasn’t related to my MS, I know that. It doesn’t make sense to me.” 

Suddenly an unfamiliar voice fills the room, or at least a voice unfamiliar to Ariadne. (Though later she will realize that deep in her subconscious she does remember that voice from a very long time ago.) 

“I think I can answer that.” They all turn to see a woman with long blonde hair cascading down her back, with a leathery, emaciated face with blood-red tears constantly running down her cheeks, dressed in a plain gray dress/robe, standing by the fireplace, just a few feet away from Ariadne. 

“ _Sigyn?!_ ” Magnus exclaims in disbelief. 

“Uh you mean like Loki’s wife? From the old myths?” Ariadne asks in confusion. 

“They were no myths my dear, they are very much true stories. And as I said, I know the answer as to why you were so sick, dear.” The woman softly says, approaching Ariadne.

“W-w-why?” Ariadne stutters. The woman- Sigyn- smiles softly and affectionately at her. 

“Because you are my daughter Ariadne.”


	2. Part 2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding out that she is only demigod child of Sigyn, Ariadne finds out why she has been so severely ill during her pregnancy, and tries to accept that she has a mother who loves her and cares for her, as well as a step-sister and a step-sibling , all the while trying to keep up to date on her schoolwork and preparing for the impending arrival of her baby.

Ariadne is completely speechless and finds herself just staring at this woman who is claiming to be her mother.

“That can’t be possible, Ariadne is mortal, if she were your and Loki’s daughter she would be something else altogether.” Alex speaks up.

“I did not say Loki is her father, because he is not. Much like my husband I was able to send out pieces of essence while I was in that cave.

One such time I sent a part of my essence to Midgard, here to Boston. I met a very handsome and attractive man, he was kind to me and at the time I did not know he was really quiet a horrible person. I was desperate for love and kindness, after enduring years of abuse from Loki.

We spent one night together, the man I met, and I. Soon after that much to my surprise I found out I was pregnant, and Loki found out soon after that. He was, as you can imagine, furious. 

Never mind that he had been unfaithful to me multiple times by now and sired one demigod child and bore another, only a year apart. 

He placed a curse on me, a curse that would make me suffer severely throughout the pregnancy and that would pass down that suffering to the child I was carrying, when the time came for them to have their first child. From that moment on I was severely ill throughout the pregnancy, just as you were Ariadne. For nine months I endured the most awful sickness and vomiting one could imagine. 

Then I gave birth to the most perfect and beautiful little girl I had ever seen. I knew right away you were not perfectly healthy Ariadne, I had and have no idea if it is correlated to the curse but I loved and love you with all my heart, my first and only daughter. Of course because of the ancient laws I could not raise you Ariadne, I had no choice but to leave you with your father, though had I known how abusive he would turn out to be I would have found you a better home.

You are very special Ariadne Dayita Bashin, you are my only demi-god child. You are so very special to me because you are my daughter and I fought to bring you into this world, I chose your middle name, insisted on it, because you are so very beloved by me.”

Everyone is speechless for a few minutes, before Alex speaks up. 

“So... Ariadne is Sam and I’s step-sister?” Sigyn nods. 

“Yes, that’s correct.” 

“But... but she doesn’t have any powers.” Sam stammers. 

“Not exactly true. Ariadne, about a month ago when you were hospitalized due to your illness, your friend Hearthstone promised you that you would be alright and get better, and somehow you knew that was a promise that would not be broken, didn’t you?” Sigyn gently asks.

“I uh... I... yeah, I did.” Ariadne says in a hoarse tone. 

“Well that is part of your powers, being able to tell when a promise will be fulfilled or not, being the daughter of the Goddess of Fidelity you have powers correlated to oaths and promises.” Sigyn explains. 

“So... you’re telling me that the Norse Myths are all actually true? And... Loki is Sam and Alex’s dad?” Ariadne furrows her brow in confusion. 

“Well he’s my dad.” Sam says. 

“And my mom.” Alex replies, earning another look of confusion from Ariadne. “Loki is genderfluid like me, but unlike me he can change his sex, one of the times he did that he met my dad, they slept together and soon Loki found he couldn’t change back into Male, and that was because he was pregnant with me.” Alex explains. 

“And probably best to let you know and get it over with, I’m a son of Fray, Alex and I are Einherjar, Sam is a Valkyrie, Blitz is a dwarf and my cousin, he’s a son of Freya, Hearth is an elf and a master of rune magic, and Mallory, TJ and Gunderson are also Einherjar and Mallory and TJ are demi-gods too, TJ is a son of Tyr and Mallory is a daughter of Frigg.” Magnus hurriedly explains. 

“I... so... those monsters I would see when I was a kid, it wasn’t just my imagination?” Ariadne quietly asks. 

“What kind of monsters did you see?” Sam asks. 

“Mostly wolves, and not like the ones you see on nature documentaries, these were different, I could sense it. I would also see fire giants, literally giants who could wield fire, and I saw some ice giants too, a lot of them were literally made of ice. My dad and step-mom always told me I was just seeing things and had an over-active imagination, that I needed more discipline.”

“Yeah, those were all real. Look, I’m going to get the others, you have a lot to learn.” Alex says.

A few hours later and Ariadne is caught up on all the events of the last two years and on all the Mythology stories that are actually true. The stories are so insane she sees no reason as to why anyone would lie about it. 

“If Loki could be involved with Alex and Sam, why weren’t you involved with me?” Ariadne asks Sigyn in a hurt tone. 

“I wanted to be my darling, I truly did. But if I went near you then Loki would have been able to find you and I knew he would try and harm you in some way, I couldn’t let him near you, and you were much safer living as a normal mortal, after what the other Gods did to my sons I did and do not trust them with you, you are the most precious thing in all the nine worlds, to me, Ariadne, I had to do what was best for you. But when I heard of how severely ill you are and that you were living with Einherjar and a dwarf and elf, I knew I had to come tell you the truth.” Sigyn softly says, pushing her daughter’s hair back from her face. 

“So will you stick around now? Now that Loki isn’t a threat anymore? You could meet your grandchild, be involved in his life.” Ariadne quietly says, cupping her belly in both hands. 

“He is it?” Sigyn softly asks with a gentle smile. 

“I think so, not sure though, mother’s intuition.” Ariadne shrugs. Sigyn smiles again and places a kiss to her daughter’s forehead. 

“I would love to be involved in my grandson’s life, of course I will stick around.” 

Over the next few months Ariadne does her best to stay up to date on her school work so she can graduate on time, however this proves difficult as her pregnancy progresses. Thanks to Loki’s curse, Ariadne has a very difficult time being pregnant, the all day nausea from her HG never goes away, her fatigue and muscle weakness and stiffness only seem to get worse, at 5 months she is admitted to the hospital again due to bleeding (which thankfully turned out to be nothing serious) and then again at 6 months with premature labor (which they were able to stop.) And she has also needed to go to the ER quite a few times, due to various sprains that occurred thanks to her MS. 

Thankfully she has a lot of support, many of the other kids her age at The Chase Space help her stay up to date on her school work and are exactly the kind of friends she needs. If she has to miss an entire day of school, Paul Blofis will come around at the weekend and help her catch up, free of charge, sometimes Sally and Estelle come along too, Sally helps out with running the place for a few hours and Estelle gets to see all her favorite people and learn from an early age, about those less fortunate in life and how they should always be treated with kindness, respect and equality. 

Sigyn knows exactly what Ariadne is going through, as she had almost the exact same complications during her pregnancy (Bar the side-effects of coming off MS medication of course.). 

Sam and Alex are possibly the most protective of Ariadne out of everyone at Chase Space, since learning that she is their step-sister, they have practically adopted her, to Sam, Ariadne is as much her sister as Alex is (on her feminine days of course.) and to Alex she is as much her sister as Sam is. It doesn’t matter that they share no blood, they love her and want to keep her as safe as possible, and are both extremely excited about the impending arrival of their niece/nephew. 

Ariadne is beyond grateful for the new little family she has found. Magnus is like the brother she’s always wanted, Blitz and Hearth are like fathers to her (so technically she and Magnus _are_ brother and sister, seeing as everyone refers to Hearth and Blitz as Magnus’ mom and dad, and they’ve now taken to referring to them as Ariadne’s dads.) 

Now Ariadne is just a few weeks from her due date, and at this stage her fatigue and muscle weakness are so bad she is totally reliant on a wheelchair, and has moved to one of the rooms on the ground floor, until she feels ready to tackle the stairs again, after the baby is born and after she gets back on her medication. 

Currently she is sitting in her chair in the home-school room, with Sally Jackson who kindly offered to help her out with some of her essays for English. This is an absolute honor to Ariadne as she has read Sally’s book and loved it, and is eagerly awaiting the second one which is due for publication in a month's time. 

“So you think you know what you have to do know? Do you want me to go over it again?” Sally kindly asks, once she has finished explaining to Ariadne the best way to write her essay on the key themes in Shakespeare’s King Lear. 

“No I understand now, thanks. Alex and I can work on it tonight and probably have it done in a day or two.” Ariadne says. At this stage she herself cannot write or type out her essays, if she tried she would very likely sprain her wrists and/or paralyze her arms, so Alex has offered to do the physical writing and typing, while Ariadne talks him through the essays and such. 

“Alright, if you finish it by Friday you can give it to Paul to give to me, I’ll look over it for you and send it back with any notes I have.” Sally says, closing the textbook over. 

“Thank you, I really appreciate all you’re doing for me, and for free, it means a lot.” Ariadne appreciatively says.

“It’s my pleasure Ari, you’re a wonderful student and extremely intelligent, I have no doubt you are going to fly through college, even with a baby. You remind me of our Annabeth a bit you know.” Sally gently says, smiling warmly at Ariadne. She had only been a few years older than Ari is now, when she got pregnant with Percy. She only wishes she had the support and help Ariadne has, but then again if she did, maybe she would never have taken those writing classes and met Paul, and they wouldn’t have Estelle. 

“Percy’s lucky to have such an awesome mom.” Ariadne shyly admits. 

“Oh no, I’m the lucky one, he’s the most wonderful and perfect son I could possibly ask for, it’s been a privilege to raise him and love him. Oh, here before I forget, I want to give you this.” Sally pulls a book from her bag and sets it in front of Ariadne. Straight away Ariadne can see it’s an ARC of Sally’s next book, and her breath hitches in her throat. 

“Oh my gods, is this really for me?” She asks. Sally smiles and nods. 

“I got these in the mail the other day and right away I knew I had to set one aside for you.” 

Ariadne is about to reply, when an intense wave of pain washes over her, like a white-hot iron fist gripping stomach and back. She gasps in pain and scrunches her face up. 

“Ari, are you alright?” Sally asks in a tone of alarm. 

“I... I don’t know.” Ariadne says in a breathless tone. Just then Ariadne feels a popping sensation in her abdomen which is very closely followed by a small gush of water from between her legs. “W-what was that? I didn’t pee myself did I?” Ariadne asks, trying to refrain from blushing. Sally chuckles and shakes her head. 

“No sweetheart you didn’t, your waters broke.”

Once she’s sure Ariadne will be alright by herself for a few minutes, Sally alerts the others that Ariadne’s waters broke. Previously it had been decided that Hearth, Blitz, Sam and Alex would go with Ariadne to the hospital, and Magnus would stay behind and get help running Chase Space, from Mallory, TJ, Gunderson and Amir. 

Alex is quickly admitted to the hospital, where she endures several hours of painful labor that medication seems unable to touch. They had tried to place an epidural but just couldn’t find the right spot, so Ariadne is having to do this with less powerful drugs. 

Blitzen mostly stays in the waiting room, finding it hard to see Ariadne in so much pain. Sam has to leave a few times to go pray, and Alex is the one who is keeping everyone at Chase Space updated, and fetching anything Ariadne requests. 

Throughout her labor Ariadne finds the most comfort in Hearth. They don’t talk much, but Hearth holding her hand, stroking her hair and rubbing her back soothingly, bring Ariadne a great deal of comfort. 

Right now Sam has gone to pray, Blitz is in the waiting room and Alex and Hearth are with Ariadne. Ariadne is lying on her side, her eyes squeezed shut and one of her hands gripping Hearth’s, trying to breathe through the pain while Alex and Hearth try to soothe her. 

“You’re doing great sis, it’s gonna be over soon, you’ll have your baby before you know it.” Alex gently says, as Hearth smooths Ariadne’s hair back from her face.

“It hurts so much.” Ariadne weakly says, tears streaming down her face. 

_You are so brave and strong, Ari. You can do this._ Hearth signs with one hand, when Ari opens her eyes.

A few minutes later before Sam gets back from praying, Ariadne feels an intense urge to push and gets the go-ahead from her midwife to start pushing and bringing her baby into the world. 

She rolls over onto her back, propped up pillows, still gripping Hearth’s hand and starts to push.

Ariadne pushes for two hours before any progress is made. At this stage she is exhausted and in a lot of pain, barely able to keep her energy levels up. 

“Ariadne I can see baby’s head! You’re at the finish line now sweetie, not long to go.” The midwife tells her, looking up for a moment to give Ariadne an encouraging smile. 

“You’re so close sis, you can do it, just a little bit longer.” Alex says in an encouraging tone, squeezing her sister’s hand and pressing a cold and damp compress to her forehead. 

_Almost there, remember how strong you are_. Hearth signs with his free hand. Ariadne groans and leans forward into the next push. 

“That’s it! Baby’s head is born, just a few more now Ariadne you are doing so well.” The midwife says. Ariadne takes a deep breath and lifts her head from the pillows before pushing again, groaning in pain and gripping tightly onto Hearth’s hand. A few seconds later she feels a weight lift off her and a high-pitched wail echos through the room. Ariadne sighs in relief and relaxes back into the pillows. 

“You did it sis! You did it!” Alex exclaims, pushing Ariadne’s hair out of her eyes. Hearth smiles kindly at Ariadne and rubs her arm before signing 

_Told you you could do it, very proud of you._

“I’m not pregnant anymore.” Ariadne quietly says in a tone of relief. Now Loki’s curse won’t apply anymore, her HG will be gone and she’ll be able to go back on her medication and get back to her usual self.

“No, that you’re not.” The midwife chuckles, as she gently cleans the baby down. 

“Boy or girl?” Ariadne asks in a breathless tone. 

“Girl, a beautiful little girl, congratulations.” The midwife softly says, placing the baby on Ariadne’s chest. 

“I-is she okay? Did she inherit my blind eye or MS?” Ariadne asks in a concerned tone. 

“We’re not sure yet, we’ll be able to tell once we take her for some tests.” 

“I don’t care, I won’t love her any less if she did inherit any of that or has only other illness or disability, I just want to know so I can be prepared.” Ariadne quietly says, putting her arms around her baby who snuggles closely into her.

“I know, I can see how much you love her already.” The midwife replies. 

“Do you have a name for her?” Alex quietly asks her sister, gently touching her shoulder. 

“I was thinking Divya Alex Samirah Bhasin, after the best siblings I could ask for." Ariadne quietly says. Tears well up in Alex’s eyes and she quickly brushes them away. She hadn’t been expecting this, and doesn’t feel like she deserves it, she did nothing special, just what any sibling would do for their sister.

Alex kisses her sister’s forehead and says 

“Thank you, that means a lot to me.” 

“Hearth.” Ariadne turns to look at the tall elf still quietly standing by her side, though no longer holding her hand now she is cradling Divya. “I want you and Blitz to be her Guide-Parents, you’ve been incredible to me over the last 2 years, everyone at Chase Space has, I wish I could name her after all of you and make you all her Guide-Parents, but you and Blitz have been like dads to me and made me trust people again, specifically men after how awful my dad was to me, and I really trust you to guide Divya through life and to take care of her if anything happens to me.” 

Like Alex, Hearth also begins to well up and quickly dabs at his tears with his scarf. 

_Blitz is going to kill me for using my scarf as a handkerchief._ He signs, laughing lightly. _Would be honored to be Divya’s Guide-parent, couldn’t love either of you more._

“We love you too.”

A few minutes later Ariadne is left alone with Divya to bond for a while, before she is taken for tests and before the others come to meet her. 

For Ariadne, sitting in this room, in the same hospital where she came when she was violently ill with HG early on in her pregnancy, looking down at her beautiful and healthy baby girl, is possibly the most healing thing on earth. Mere months ago she was praying to God to let her die, now she is the proud mother of a beautiful and perfect baby girl. 

“Little Divya.” Ariadne softly says, tracing her daughter’s little features. “Gods, I fought so hard to bring you into this world, pregnancy is not something that agrees with me, that was obvious from the start. Those were the most horrendous nine months of my life and I am so glad they are over, but at the end of the day, it was all worth it, to have you my love. I would go through it all again just to have you, I love you.” 

Half an hour later, Sam, Hearth, Blitz and Alex come back into the room, to properly and formerly meet Divya. Hearth is the first to hold her, he is currently sitting in a chair holding her in his arms, smiling contentedly down at her, while Blitz stands behind him, a hand on his boyfriend’s’ shoulder, leaning down slightly to talk to Divya. 

“You did a good job kid, you went through a lot and now you have a pretty darn cute baby.” Blitz lightly says, smiling proudly at Ariadne. 

_Tell him what you told me, after she was born._ Hearth signs. Ariadne grins. 

“Blitz, I’d like you and Hearth to be Divya’s Guide-Parents.” Blitz looks at her wide-eyed before saying 

“Oh kid, are you sure?” Ariadne nods. 

“Absolutely, you and Hearth helped me the most through my pregnancy, Hearth paid for my therapy and all the hospital stays and visits and medication and everything else, and Blitz you were the first person to find out that I was pregnant and from that day on you have been nothing but supportive, I really couldn’t have done it without you, so it would mean a lot if you were by Divya’s side in life, guiding her through the tough times like you guided me.” 

“You know we would have done that anyway? Even if you hadn’t asked, we would always support and guide Divya, just as we’ll always support and guide you?” Blitz asks. Ariadne had been through enough in life, had to face so much alone already, it’s about time she got the love and support she needs and deserves. 

“I know but I think it’s nice to make it official.” 

When Divya is a few hours old and off having all her tests, Ariadne is able to have her first dose of her MS medication. Usually she takes her medication in pill form, but since she’s already in the hospital and has relapsed through her pregnancy, she and her doctor decide that receiving the medication via injection would be best for now and until her symptoms start to ease up again, a pill would take longer to work, but the injection will put the medicine straight into her bloodstream and can get to work immediately. . 

When Divya is brought back from her tests, the nurse informs Ariadne that it seems Divya is also blind in one eye, but they will need to do more tests to be sure, and they will need to keep an eye on her over the next few years, to see if she has inherited MS. Ariadne is not worried though, she knows exactly what it’s like to be blind in one eye, she’s never known any different and neither will Divya. 

Mother and daughter are kept in the hospital over the next few days, and by the time they are discharged Ariadne is feeling a lot better, her all day nausea is completely gone and she’s started to gain back some strength in her arms and legs. She can walk for a few minutes at a time now, and she can hold Divya without support for the first time. For the first few days after Divya’s birth, Ariadne was so weak she had only been able to hold Divya with her lying on a pillow in Ariadne’s arms, otherwise Ariadne would very likely have paralyzed her arms. However now, she is able to hold her daughter with no need for the pillow and no fear of paralyzing her arms. She is still heavily reliant on her wheelchair but the doctors are confident that she should be back to normal in a few weeks, only needing the chair on long journeys or days when she’s feeling particularly weak and tired. 

Everyone at The Chase Space is utterly smitten with little Divya, she’s made Sam and Amir extremely eager to start their own family once they’re married. Magnus loves getting to be the cool and fun uncle, he adores Divya and is always holding her and telling her stories and such, and Alex has never found Magnus sexier, seeing him so loving and caring really makes him even more attractive to Alex, than he usually finds him. 

Blitz and Hearth turn to mush around Divya, they utterly adore her and she clearly already has them wrapped around her little finger. They’re often the ones to look after Divya while Ariadne catches up on school work. Despite her complicated and traumatic pregnancy, Ariadne is still on course to graduate in the summer, and has been offered a place at her top two colleges of choice, with Hearth insisting on paying the fees no matter which place she chooses, and Blitzen insisting she come work for him part-time when she feels physically able, he’s been looking for a photographer for the shop for a while now and couldn’t think of anyone he’d prefer to have helping out, than Ariadne. 

As promised Sigyn is a big part of her granddaughter’s life, getting to watch her grow up and getting to be a part of her life, helps to heal some of the pain and anguish she has, from having to let go of Ariadne when she was born, and not be able to be around to watch her grow up. 

As she grows Divya never shows any signs of MS, and is the sweetest and happiest little girl in all the nine worlds, she loves all her aunts and uncles at The Chase Space, and from floor 19 and makes quick friends with the other kids at The Chase Space. 

3 years after Divya’s birth, Ariadne qualifies as a photographer and her work quickly becomes very well known and she is often in high-demand. She currently works as part of an agency who specialize in new-born and birth photography, and she also continues to help Blitz in the shop whenever he needs her. 

She is still working through the trauma she experienced while pregnant, but she has never for one second, regretted having Divya, she is the light of her life and she couldn’t imagine life without her.

Right now Divya and Ariadne are sitting at the kitchen table of The Chase Space, Ariadne editing some photographs she is due to send to a client by this evening, and Divya looking through a children’s Norse Mythology book, that Magnus got her. 

“Mama?” Divya’s little voice rings through the room. 

“Yes love?” Ariadne asks, getting up from the table to grab the charger for her laptop. 

“Mama look it my firend! I sawed him afore!” Divya exclaims, pointing to a picture in her book. Ariadne frowns and walks toward her daughter. 

“What do you mean love?” She gently asks. 

“My friend mama, see him in my dreams, him says hims my grandpa cuz he married to nana.” Divya eagerly explains, kicking her little legs back and forth. Ariadne’s heart drops into her stomach when she looks down at the picture book and sees whose picture Divya is pointing at. 

Loki.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ariadne founds out a disturbing truth about Divya's father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies! 
> 
> I know it's been quiet a while since I posted what I thought would be the last chapter to this story, but then inspiration struck and I knew I had to write this chapter.
> 
> I do want to warn you this is a pretty dark and heavy chapter and I'll be providing some CW/TWs below, so please be very careful if you choose to read this!
> 
> **CW//TW**
> 
> Sexual deception.  
> Rape.   
> Pregnancy complications.   
> Mention of death and near death experiences.   
> MS relapse.   
> Trauma.

Ariadne is hit with a wave of nausea the like of which she hasn’t felt in over 3 years, since she was pregnant with Divya. One of her worst fears has come true, Loki has made himself known to Divya, and told her he’s part of her family to make her trust him and love him. 

“H-he told you that he’s your grandpa, sweetheart?” Ariadne asks, trying to keep her tone as calm as possible and keep her composure so as not to frighten Divya. 

“No, hims say he married to nana, like Uncle Hearth married Uncle Blitz, that make him my grandpa, right?” Divya asks. Well, at least Loki isn’t trying to get her to call him grandpa, not yet anyway. 

“No my love, he’s not your grandpa. It’s true that he’s married to your nana but he’s not my dad or like a dad to me in anyway, which means he’s not your grandpa. If anyone in our family is like a grandpa to you it would be Blitz or Hearth, because they’re like dads to me.” Ariadne gently explains, crouching beside her daughter and covering her small hand with hers. 

“Oh... okay.” Divya says, only taking a minute to accept and understand what her mother said. 

“Has... has Loki said anything else to you, or told you anything else? When did you start seeing him in your dreams? ” Ariadne asks 

“Uh-hu! Hims tell me I special, special girl! Few days ago mama.” Divya eagerly replies, clearly delighted at having been called a special girl. Ariadne immediately knows she can’t handle this on her own and needs to contact Sam and Alex, who have dealt with Loki all their lives. (And afterlife, in Alex’s case.) 

“Okay _pyaar,_ I’ll be back in a minute alright? You keep reading your book, I won’t be long.” Ariadne gently asks. Divya nods and Ariadne kisses her on the forehead before stepping into the living room where she last saw Sam and Alex, as well as Amir. Thankfully, they are still there. 

“Hey.” Ariadne quietly greets her step-siblings and brother-in-law. “Sorry to interrupt but I’ve got a bit of a situation going on with Divya and I really need some help. Sam, Alex, can I talk to you, please?” 

“Did she drop her first curse-word? If so I need to point out that it was way more likely that Hearth taught her that, not me.” Alex defends himself, as he and Sam follow Ariadne into the hallway. 

“No no nothing like that, Gods I wish it were that simple. It’s a bit of a long story, but the gist of the matter is that Loki’s been appearing in Divya’s dreams and getting her to trust him, telling her she’s ‘special’ and things like that.” Ariadne says in a low, concerned tone. 

“Oh _shit!_ ” Alex whisper-yells. 

“My thoughts exactly.” Ariadne sighs. “I have no idea what to do!”

“Hey it’s okay.” Sam soothingly says, placing a comforting hand on her sister’s arm. “Do you want Alex and I to talk to Divya, see if she’ll tell us if he said anything else to her or something?” Ariadne’s eyes light up with hope and she nods. 

“Yes please, I would really appreciate that.” She says. 

“Okay, let us talk to her on our own for a bit, you go into the living room and we’ll come get you when we’ve talked to her.” 

Ariadne agrees, so while she goes into the living room, Sam and Alex walk into the kitchen, both of them thrilled when Divya’s face lights up at the sight of them. 

“ _Eimti_ Sam _, Tío_ Alex _!!”_ Divya squeals in delight, noticing that Alex is presenting a little more masculine today, thus meaning he’s her _Tío_ today, not her _Tía._

“Hey _mija_.” Alex softly says, making his way over to his niece and dropping to his knees to give her a hug while Sam drops a kiss to her forehead. 

“Where mama?” Divya curiously asks, looking around for her mother. 

“Mama’s just in the living room talking to your _Khaal_ Amir.” Sam gently explains. 

“Your mama told us about your new firend, Loki. Can you tell us more about him?” Alex asks. “What does he talk to you about?”

“Hims know nana and mama, and me. Wants be my friend, and hims say I special and be powerful when I growed up!” This gives Alex and Sam cause for concern. Is Loki able to tell that Divya has inherited some Demigod powers from Ariadne? It’s not uncommon for the child of a Demigod to also have some sort of abilities and powers, though they’re usually not as strong as their parents. 

Sam and Alex talk to Divya a little longer before ultimately coming to the conclusion that she is not in any kind of immediate danger, Loki won’t be too interested in her until she gets older and her powers develop, they have time to come up with a plan.

They relay this information to Ariadne, and the 3 of them agree to meet up tomorrow and put a plan in place. 

Soon after Alex and Sam’s discussion with Divya, Ariadne and Divya head home from Chase Space to their small 2 bedroom apartment a ten minute walk from Chase Space, that Ariadne has been able to save the deposit for over the last few years, and now thanks to her job, she can afford the rent as well as taking care of herself and Divya. 

That evening, after putting Divya to bed, Ariadne comes back into the living room and gets the fright of her life. 

Standing in the middle of her living room is a tall, lanky man in a spotless red-sox jersey, and black jeans. His hair is rumpled and blonde, with red, yellow and blue streaks through it, and his face is twisted and scarred. Ariadne instantly recognizes him from her friends’ descriptions of him. 

“Loki.” Ariadne breaths in disbelief. The God smirks at her. 

“In the flesh my dear! Good to see you after so long, Ariadne! You’ve changed quite a bit in 3 years, haven’t you?” 

“You stay away from Divya.” Ariadne says in a surprisingly calm but firm tone. Loki simply laughs and waves his hand dismissively. 

“Oh I’m not here for your little girl, I’m here because I want to talk to you."

“What do you want?” 

“Well it’s time I revealed a little secret to you, dear. Have you ever noticed the similarities between Samairah and Alex and your daughter? Wouldn’t you say that Divya and Samirah have a very similar smile, and Alex and Divya have the very same nose?" 

“What are you trying to imply?” Ariadne asks, feeling herself become disorientated and discocating from the situation. 

“Isn’t it obvious? Your little girl is also my little girl, I’m her father.” Ariadne almost laughs at the ridiculous statement. There is no way in Helheim that Loki is Divya’s father, she would remember sleeping with a God. 

“That’s not one bit true. Divya’s father is a boy my age who I met at the library when I study there, he looked nothing like you, and also he had a phone number and social media, none of which a God would have.” Ariadne says in an almost smug tone, folding her arms across her chest. 

Without a word, Loki changes form right in front of Ariadne, from the seemingly ageless tall and lanky man with blond hair, into a boy of about 17, tall but broad with a soft face and dark hair and eyes, and the most charming smile, a smile that made Ariadne fall for the boy standing in front of her. Her nausea intensifies as she realizes what’s going on.

“Remember me now?” Loki asks in a bemused tone, changing back into his usual appearance. “You see dear Ari, when you arrived at ‘Chase Space’ as it’s called, and started to hang around my children, my Alex and Samirah, I knew there was something different about you, so I kept an eye on you for a while, Then after a few months it hit me, you looked just like my wife, Sigyn, I realized you’re her little Demigod bastard, the child she conceived while being unfaithful to me.

I of course already got some revenge on Sigyn by making her pregnancy with you the most miserable 9 months of her life, but I was not satisfied by any means, so I decided that to hurt her further I would have to hurt you. 

I was originally thinking of killing you of course, but then I remembered the curse I placed on Sigyn would also apply to you when you got pregnant with your first child, which I could easily make happen and it would be much more of an advantage to me than killing you, I would get more revenge on my whore of a wife, while also gaining another powerful Demigod child. 

So two years later I put my plan into action, once you were of legal age, I know I can be bad my dear but I’m no child predator.

I took on the appearance I just showed you, of a young boy around your age, and hung out around the library you would frequent. I used my natural charm to get you to fall for me, and when I finally got you into bed I used charmspeak to make you believe it was a perfectly fine idea to have sex without protection. 

Before I inserted myself into your life I bought a phone and set up some fake social media accounts so you wouldn’t be suspicious as to my lack of online presence, and when you text me a month after we slept together, and told me you were pregnant, I finished my plan by blocking and ‘ghosting’ you, as I believe the kids these days say, I knew that would really hurt you, despite what you told others you did have strong feelings for me and hopes that I would step up and take care of you and our child.”

Ariadne is at a total and complete loss for words after Loki’s explanation. She feels sick to her stomach and has the world’s worst stomach ache. She feels dirty, tricked and deceived, which she was. She also feels angry, absolutely furious with Loki for 1. Deceiving her like that. and 2. Deliberately getting her pregnant just to get revenge on her mother, and then leaving her pregnant, disabled and cursed. Did he have any idea just how dangerous an unplanned pregnancy was to her, with her MS? Does he have any idea how close she and Divya came to death, during that pregnancy? 

“Do you have any idea...” Ariadne begins in a seething tone, through clenched teeth. “How dangerous an unplanned pregnancy was to me as a young disabled teenager? 

Never mind the curse for a minute, when I found out I was pregnant I had to come off my medication for my Multiple Sclerosis, after years of having little to no symptoms and no progression of the disease, in the space of nine months my fatigue returned, my co-ordination practically became non-existent, my muscle weakness and stiffness became so bad that from 4 months to 9 months I couldn’t walk without a cane, I could barely get out of bed and I had to wear leg braces at all times. By the time I was 9 months pregnant my MS had progressed so much and caused so much muscle weakness and stiffness that I lost the ability to walk more than a few steps at a time, and had to start using a wheelchair full time, I wasn’t able to walk properly again until Divya was 5 months old. 

I can’t tell you the amount of times I ended up in the ER with sprains because of my MS, like the time I sprained my arm trying to pick up a litre of milk, or the time I sprained my wrist lifting a heavy book.

Coming off my meds almost killed me, and Divya, add your curse on top of that and it’s an absolute miracle we both survived that pregnancy. It was so traumatic for me I don’t think I can ever go through another pregnancy ever again, even a planned one without your curse, so my first and only pregnancy experience was littearly life-threatening. 

You might not care about me, but I would at least expect you to care about your child, don’t you give a shit that you almost killed your own child before she was born?!” 

Ariadne is absolutely seething with rage by the time she has finished her rant, her chest is rapidly rising and falling and tears are streaming down her face, sweat sticking her hair to her forehead, but Loki of course has remained completely calm throughout the whole time. 

He laughs lightly and leans back against the wall behind him. 

“Of course I knew all that dear, it was part of the plan, part of the reason I did it. I knew how much a pregnancy would hurt you and affect you and therefore hurt and affect your mother, I knew she would feel guilty as your mother, especially when she never revealed herself to you before and let you grow up in an abusive household, I knew it would kill her, and let’s be honest Ari my dear, I was never overly fond of you, as the result of my wife’s affair, I wanted to punish you for being born to my wife, but fathered by another man. 

As for Divya, I would have assured her survival one way or the other, I’m not an idiot, I may have hated and hate you but I knew that little baby you carried in your womb was invaluable to me, I would have made sure she survived.” At this, Ariadne’s anger is almost immediately joined by a fierce need to protect Divya, it’s something she feels on a daily basis, but now with Loki standing in front of her talking about how valuable and useful Divya is to him, strengthens the feeling ten fold. 

“What do you even want with Divya? You can’t raise her yourself, and I’m not going to raise her to see you as a good person, Sam and Alex hate you, why will it be any different with Divya?” Ariadne asks in a tone of anger. 

“Well as I said dear, she’s going to be invaluable to me when she’s older, she’ll need her dear old dad’s help learning how to use and control her powers. I made mistakes with Samirah and Alex that I won’t be making with Divya, try all you like Ariadne but our daughter will love me and want me to be in her life, and she will help me when I ask her to.” Loki calmly says, leaning against the wall and examining his fingernails, as if bored with the conversation. 

“I will never let you near her, not on my life.” Ariadne grinds out through gritted teeth. 

Loki laughs and once again waves his hand dismissively. 

“I’d like to try and see you stop me Ariadne, but don’t worry I won’t harm her, I promise you our little girl will be perfectly safe with me. I’ll be back soon dear, to meet my daughter for the first time. Ta-ta for now!” With one last final smirk, Loki disappears in a green mist, leaving no trace or evidence of his presence behind. 

Panic immediately sets in, and without thinking, Ariadne does what she always does in a moment of crisis and panic, call Blitzen and Hearthstone. 

Her hands are shaking as she picks her phone up, slides the screen unlocked and quickly finds Blitzen’s number, hoping she isn’t interrupting anything.

Seconds later, the ringing of the phone stops and is replaced by a familiar and comforting voice that immediately eases Ariadne’s panic. 

“Hello?” Blitzen answers. 

“Blitz.” Ariadne sniffles in a breathless tone. 

“Ari?” Blitz’s voice is immediately full of concern and worry. “What is it? What’s wrong, why are you crying?” 

“I...just found out something.... awful.” Ariadne’s voice is barley above a whisper now, and she’s really freaking Blitz out. 

“What is it? Are you okay, is Divvy okay?” Blitz asks, using his nickname for Divya, terrified that Ariadne or Divya are terminally ill or something equally as awful. 

“I... Blitz.... Loki is Divya’s father.” Ariadne sobs. There is a brief silence on the other end of the line, before Blitz calmly says

“Okay kid, hang on, Hearth and I are coming over, you shouldn’t be alone right now and this is not a conversation to have over the phone, we’ll be there in 10 minutes.”

Sure enough, about ten minutes later there is a knock on the door and when Ariadne opens it she is beyond relieved to see Hearth and Blitz. 

“I’m so glad you’re here.” Ariadne says in a soft tone, opening the door further to let them in, accepting a hug from them each. 

“How are you?” Blitz asks in a concerned tone, pulling back from the hug and looking Ariadne over to make sure she hasn’t been harmed. 

“Okay I guess, I mean as okay as I can be after finding out that I was deceived and tricked into sleeping with and having a kid with Loki.” Ariadne sighs, rubbing at her bleary eyes. 

_Do you want to talk about it?_ Hearth signs, his eyes full of worry for Ariadne, unable to imagine the anguish and trauma she is feeling right now. 

“Not really but I guess I should.” Ariadne admits, hugging her elbows and looking down at the floor. 

“Well how about Hearth and I make you something hot to drink to calm you down, check on Divya for you and then we can talk about it, if you feel ready?” Blitzen offers. Ariadne thinks about if for a second before nodding. 

“Yeah, I’d appreciate that, thank you.”

So about half an hour later, Ariadne is curled up on the sofa by the fireplace, a blanket over her lap and a mug of tea in her hand, while she explains everything that just happened, to Hearth and Blitz. 

“So to make a long story short, Divya told me she’d been seeing a man who looked exactly like Loki, in her dreams, and he was trying to be her friend. Sam and Alex agreed to help me figure out what to do, tomorrow, but then I came back here and after putting Divvy down for the night, I came back up here to the living room and Loki was standing here.

He told me that he’s Divya’s father, and of course I didn’t believe him at first since he looks nothing like the boy I slept with and got pregnant by, but then he changed form, looking exactly like the boy I always thought of as Divya’s dad.

He explained that he wanted to hurt Sigyn and get revenge on her for being unfaithful to him with my father, and figured the best way to do that was through me, by hurting me. He knew I would suffer and potentially die if I got pregnant, because of A. His curse. B. My age. And C. My MS. 

So he took on the form of a 17 year old boy, hung around the library I always went to, got close to me, got me into bed and... well, got me pregnant.

He left and ignored me when I told him I was pregnant because he knew that would hurt me even more, I know I told you guys and the others that I didn’t really care about Divya’s dad, but I did. I really loved him and thought we might have a future together and that he might step up and help out when he found out I was pregnant, so when he didn’t I was pretty distraught, I was just good at hiding it.”

By the time she finishes her explanation Ariadne has tears rolling down her face. She just can’t seem to escape trauma, first she had to deal with the trauma of her abusive step-mother and birth father, then the trauma of an unplanned and very difficult and high-risk pregnancy when she was only 16, now followed by the trauma of finding out that her pregnancy didn’t actually come from a consensual fling with a cute boy, no, Ariadne got pregnant when Loki deceived and raped her. 

“Ari.... I have no idea what to say... I... sorry isn’t anywhere near enough. Gods I just want to get my hands on that no good rotten bastard and kill him for hurting you like that!” Blitzen exclaims in a tone full of fury. He is extremely protective of all the kids at Chase Space, but Ariadne especially, over the last 3 years she’s really become like a daughter to he and Hearth, and the thought of anyone hurting her (especially in such a horrenuds way) makes him seethe with rage he never felt before.

“I don’t know what to do either, I can’t let him near Divya but I don’t know how to stop him.” Ariadne sniffles, wiping at her tears. 

_I have an idea._ Hearth signs, better at containing his anger and rage than Blitz is.

“What is it?” Ariadne asks.

_We could bring this issue to Odin, tell him everything, he is the All Father and Loki’s father, he might be able to do something._ Hearth suggests, hoping he can get justice for Ari and protect Divya. 

“I... that’s a really good idea but how would we go about it? I can’t go to Asgard so how do I go about getting an audience with Odin?” Ariadne asks, worried that they won’t be able to do this in time to prevent Loki getting near Divya again. For all they know he could be talking to her in her dreams right now. The very thought makes Ariadne want to wake Divya and keep her awake until all this is over, but of course she knows she can’t deny her child sleep, and in the end she knows Loki isn’t going to harm Divya, not when he thinks he has a chance of getting her on his side.

_I will talk to him for you, if you want to include more details, you can write it down or something._ Hearth tells her. 

Normally Ariadne wouldn’t want someone else telling her story for her, but if there’s anyone in this world or any of the other 8, that she trusts to get her story across in the same way she would, and to fight tooth and nail for justice for her, it’s Hearth.

Ari nods. 

“Yeah... okay, I trust you to talk to Odin for me, I need to protect Divya from her father no matter what it takes.” 

So early the next day, after staying the night at Ariadne’s to ease her anxiety about Loki showing up again, Hearth and Blitz head up to Asgard to talk to Odin, leaving an anxious and nervous Ariadne at home with Divya.

Ariadne thinks about taking Divya and going to wait at Chase Space, where she’ll have company, or taking Divya for a walk and taking some pictures for her portfolio, but ultimately decides to stay home until Blitz and Hearth get back. 

She mostly passes the time by playing with Divya, reading to Divya, and putting the final editorial touches on the photos she was working on yesterday, and sending them over to the clients. 

Finally, after what feels like forever, there is a light knock on the door and when Ariadne opens the door, she is met by a widely grinning Hearth and Blitz. 

“How did it go?” Ari asks in a nervous tone, gesturing for them to come in. 

_Better than we could have hoped for._ Hearth signs, letting out a short breathy laugh of delight and relief. 

“Really? What did Odin say?” Ariadne asks in a hopeful tone, after closing the front door. 

_He is furious with Loki, and disgusted._ Herath begins. _Said he doesn’t feel like bounding him up in a cave again is a suitable punishment. He has decided to punish him by stripping him of his Godly powers and immortality and casting him down to Midgard._

“ObviouslyLoki could still try and involve himself with Divya, but without his powers it will much more difficult for him to do so and way easier for us to stop him.” Blitz adds in, both delighted for Ari and the justice she is about to receive, and so proud of Hearth for getting that justice for her. 

Ariadne almost instantly feels a weight lift from her shoulders, and lets out a huge sigh of relief, placing her hand over her chest as her heart starts to race. 

“Oh my Gods, oh thank Gods! No, actually, thank _you_ Hearth, and you Blitz, you’re the ones who made this happen, thank you so much.” Ariadne says in a barethy and teary tone. Hearth smiles and squeezes her hand, while Blitz affectinaly pats her on the back.

_Will always protect you and stand up for you, love you._ Hearth signs. Blitz nods his agreement. 

“I love you too, having you guys as my surrogate dads is one of the best things in my life, second only to my Divya.” 

“Speaking of.” Blitz says in an amused tone, spotting Divya lingering in the doorway of the kitchen that leads out into the hall where he, Hearth and Ari are standing. 

“Hi baby.” Ariadne smiles, turning to look at her daughter. “Look, your favorite Uncles are here, aren’t you gonna come say hi?” At this, Divya breaks out into a grin and runs straight to Hearth, who barely has time to catch her when she jumps at him, wrapping her legs around his waist, her arms around the back of his neck and resting her head on his shoulder. Herath smiles and rests his head against hers and places a hand on her back. 

“Somebody missed their Uncle Hearth.” Blitz says in an amused tone, smiling at Divya as she lifts her head from Hearth’s shoulder. 

“Love Uncle Hearth!” She exclaims, placing her hands on his cheeks and leaning her forehead against his. Hearth laughs and kisses her cheek, while managing to shift her to one hip and free one of his arms. 

_Love you too sweet little Divya._

“Divya, whaddya say we take you to the park for a while, and if you like, after that, you can help your Uncle Hearth and I re-decorate the shop?” Blitz asks, knowing Divya will love this idea. 

Divya grins and nods enthusiastically. 

Twenty minutes later, as Ariadne sits on a park bench, watching Hearth and Blitz crouch down by Divya’s side as she does her best to draw a picture with some chalk, she can’t help but feel that no matter what life throws at her, in the end she’s going to be okay. How could she not when she has the most amazing friends and family by her side? 


End file.
